Scottish Executive

Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in discovering the causes of amnesic shellfish poisoning.

Malcolm Chisholm: Amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) is caused by domoic acid, a water-soluble, amino acid which is produced by species of Pseudonitzschia phytoplankton, and accumulated in shellfish. Poisoning by ASP can cause severe and potentially fatal irreversible neurotoxic effects in humans. Toxic Pseudonitzschia species are regularly found in Scottish coastal waters throughout the year and are monitored regularly by the Food Standards Agency phytoplankton and algal toxin monitoring programmes.

Anti-Social Behaviour

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to examine ways in which the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal Service can become more effective in prosecuting those charged with anti-social behaviour.

Mrs Elish Angiolini: The Review of the Planning, Allocation and Management of Resources in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service , published on 4 March, made recommendations which are intended to improve the quality of the service delivered to the public across the board. Implementation of these recommendations has begun under the direction of the recently appointed Chief Executive and Crown Agent Designate and has reached the stage at which appointments to the new post of Area Procurator Fiscal are presently being made. Additional prosecutors and administrative staff are being recruited and technology which will permit more effective management of work is being introduced.

Anti-Social Behaviour

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the effect which community wardens or special constables would have on anti-social behaviour.

Mr Jim Wallace: It is too early to assess the effectiveness of the Neighbourhood Warden pilot project in Paisley, because the project has only just started. Renfrewshire Council is putting in place systems for monitoring and evaluation which should allow assessments of the effectiveness of the project to be made in due course.

  HM Inspectors of Constabulary assess the effectiveness of special constables within their regular inspections of all Scottish police forces; but there has been no specific assessment of their effect on anti-social behaviour.

Anti-Social Behaviour

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24700 by Mr Jim Wallace on 1 May 2002, what assessment has been undertaken of the effectiveness of the Neighbourhood Warden pilot project in Paisley in reducing anti-social behaviour.

Ms Margaret Curran: It is too early to assess the effectiveness of the Neighbourhood Warden pilot project because the project has only just started. The council is putting in place systems for monitoring and evaluation which should allow assessments of the effectiveness of the project to be made in due course.

Police

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to reduce the number of police abstractions from duty for court appearances.

Mr Jim Wallace: Legislation (for example, the Criminal Procedure (Intermediate Diets) (Scotland) Act 1998) to enhance the use and effectiveness of intermediate diets and to reduce the need to lead oral evidence at trial have led to a reduction in such abstractions. A study in 1998, for example, showed that the number of police officers attending court in Scotland on any given day had reduced by more than 41% since 1991. The current reviews of the court system being taken forward under the direction of Lord Bonomy and Sheriff Principal McInnes should also have an impact.

Prison Service

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21183 by Mr Jim Wallace on 25 February 2002 and in light of the requirement for best value in public services, how the Scottish Prison Service compares costs of private prisons with public prisons when it does not calculate the costs to it of the tendering process.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The tender costs are excluded from the costs of both private and public prison models for comparison purposes.

Prison Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to paragraph 2.3.2 of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Review of Scottish Prison Service Estates Review, why the site cost is included in the capital and development costs for the public sector comparator.

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24826 by Mr Jim Wallace on 13 May 2002, in relation to paragraph 2.3.2 of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Review of Scottish Prison Service Estates Review, why it considers the annual cost per prisoner place for the public sector comparator comparable with the annual cost per prisoner place shown for HM Prison Kilmarnock, given that the latter does not include the costs of the site.

Mr Jim Wallace: The cost of acquiring a site is not included in any option as is made clear in Paragraph 1.3. Actual design and subsequent costs are dependent on the shape and size of site. For the purposes of the Public Sector Comparator, the locationally dependent costs were based on those of the HM Prison Kilmarnock site as a typical brownfield site.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25026 by Mr Jim Wallace on 16 May 2002, what the necessary procedure would be in order to make the calculation requested.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25026 by Mr Jim Wallace on 16 May 2002, why the cost of answering the question is considered disproportionate.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-26076 on 10 June 2002.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25029 by Mr Jim Wallace on 16 May 2002, what remedy it would employ if the cost to it of a private prison operator failing to comply with its contract was greater than the price of the contract.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The contract would include a requirement for any such costs to be paid within a defined time period.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Justice intends to reply to the letter dated 11 April 2002 from the Rev David Pitkeathley of Peterhead regarding HM Prison Peterhead.

Mr Jim Wallace: The letter has been treated as a response to the consultation and has been formally acknowledged as such.

Saltire

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when a list of days on which the Union flag must be flown was issued to Historic Scotland and other public bodies and what days were on that list.

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place with Her Majesty's Government regarding the days on which the Union flag must be flown from public buildings, including those in the care of Historic Scotland.

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that the Saltire is flown from public buildings on St Andrew's Day.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive's Flag Flying Guidelines were first issued in June 2001, following consultations with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (who were responsible, pre-devolution, for guidance on flags). The Executive's guidelines are revised from time to time to reflect changed circumstances, such as the recent sad deaths of members of the royal family. These guidelines cover all properties under the full control of the Scottish Executive and its agencies. They are freely available to managers of other public buildings, such as local government offices: they reach their own decisions on flag flying on special days.

  Historic Scotland apply the Executive guidelines with some minor modifications to reflect the use of their house flag for marketing and branding purposes and also the presence on certain sites of British Army flag stations. Of the agency's 330 properties, 46 are equipped with flagpoles.

  Since their inception the guidelines have provided for the flying of the Saltire alongside the Union flag on all main Executive buildings and agency sites equipped with two or more flagpoles. The recent change means that Historic Scotland sites with only one pole will also fly the Saltire on St Andrew's Day.

Saltire

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the revised guidance issued to Historic Scotland on the flying of the Saltire on St. Andrew's Day will include the flying of the Saltire from Edinburgh Castle in substitution for the Union flag, given that the castle is run by Historic Scotland on its behalf.

Mr Jim Wallace: No revision is required for flag flying at Edinburgh Castle. The Saltire is flown every day at the Half Moon Battery within Edinburgh Castle by Historic Scotland. The Union flag is flown every day at the Clock Tower by the army. Historic Scotland's house flag is flown daily at the gatehouse. The Saltire is not substituted by the Union flag at any time throughout the year.

Youth Hostels

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) safety and (b) security regulations cover youth hostels and what inspection regimes are in place in relation to each.

Hugh Henry: When youth hostels are constructed or created by conversion of an existing building, they must comply with the Building Standards (Scotland) Regulations. There is no requirement under these regulations for inspection after a completion certificate has been granted. Health and safety more generally is a reserved matter and is the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive. Security is a matter for the owners of the premises.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what due diligence was carried out on Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd prior to it being given a contract for the Scottish Parliament and what indemnity arrangements were put in place.

Sir David Steel: Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) was subject to the same due diligence procedures as other successful tenderers. Their ability to perform the contract was based on the professional and financial standing of the parent company, Flour City International, and, for this reason, a Parent Company Guarantee was sought and obtained.

Parliamentary Accommodation

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer when it was discovered that there was an issue with mice in the Parliament Headquarters building; what action has been taken to deal with the issue; when staff were, or will be, informed of the situation, and whether other parliamentary accommodation is also experiencing difficulties with mice and, if so, which accommodation.

Sir David Steel: A pest control contract has been in place since the Parliament moved into the Parliament Headquarters building (PHQ). This was necessary, as part of planned preventative maintenance, due to the number of restaurants in the surrounding area and the mouse problem in Edinburgh itself. Bait boxes are placed in the most appropriate areas and the contractor visits regularly to check and replenish as necessary.

  There have been few reports of mice within PHQ, the most recent being on the 28 May on the second floor. The contractor attended the following day and installed bait boxes to the affected area. Steps are also being taken to ensure that all waste kept in the garage until uplift is appropriately stored to prevent any encouragement to mice.

  No information has been sent to staff specifically on the subject of mice, but notices have been sent regarding the cleanliness of tea point areas and fridges.

  The FM Helpdesk received a report of a possible sighting of a mouse in Cannonball House on 6 June. This is the first incident reported within this building and the pest control contractor has been asked to investigate and install bait boxes as required.

Parliamentary Visits

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether a breakdown of foreign trips which the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has funded in each of the last two years can be provided, detailing the cost of each trip, its purpose and whether reports on the outcome of each trip have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Sir David Steel: Details are set out in the attached table of visits in 2000, 2001 and 2002, funded by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), outwith the United Kingdom by:

  the Presiding Officer, the Deputy Presiding Officers;

  cross-party delegations of members of the Parliament ;

  members travelling abroad on Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) business;

  members nominated to the Council of Europe, the Committee of the Regions and the British Irish Interparliamentary Body, and

  members of committees of the Parliament.

  Travel outwith Scotland by members in an individual capacity is funded through either the Members' Support Allowance or the Members' Travel Allowance, depending on the destination. Information about expenditure under the Allowances scheme is published in the SPCB's Annual Report. Travel by parliamentary staff, other than when accompanying delegations noted in the attached table, is funded from individual directorate staffing budgets. Details are available of the total costs incurred by parliament staff in respect of such travel.

  The External Liaison Unit, in partnership with the Research and Information Group, is continuing to develop the information and communication aspects of the Parliament's external links. Ensuring that reports of parliamentary engagement abroad are as widely available as possible is a key objective.

  Reports of many visits are already available, as marked with an asterisk on the attached table. It has become normal practice for a report to be posted on SPEIR (at Programs/The Intranet/Services/External Liaison Unit/Events Reports) after external visits by the Presiding Officer, by Deputy Presiding Officers, by cross-party delegations of members and after British-Irish Interparliamentary Body Plenary meetings. The aim is that reports on all such forthcoming visits will be posted on SPEIR.

  Reports are made available via SPEIR following most visits involving the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association too. In all cases details are summarised in the CPA branch Annual Report which is circulated to all MSPs.

  Consideration is being given to how information about work done by MSPs nominated to the Committee of the Regions and the Council of Europe can be disseminated more widely in the Parliament.

  There is no practice of providing reports of visits by committees or their members. Such visits, both within and outwith Scotland, are generally related to inquiry work and the results feed into committee reports or discussions.

  The Senior Management Team has recently agreed that reports of external visits or activity by staff should be made widely available and this information will now also be posted on SPEIR.

  


Dates


Description


Participants


Approx. Costs to SPCB




05 to 09.04.00


Tartan Day Celebrations, Washington, USA


Patricia Ferguson MSP and George Reid MSP


£9,000




03 to 05.07.00


Millennium celebrations and presentation to Icelandic Parliament, 
  Iceland


Presiding Officer + 1 Staff


£1,450




10 to 17.07.00


European Committee visit to Brussels, Tallinn, Budapest, 
  Warsaw and Maastricht


Ben Wallace MSP, Margo Macdonald MSP and Elaine Thomson 
  MSP


£4,000




14.08.00


Social Inclusion Committee Drugs Inquiry, Ireland


Committee Members + 1 Staff


£1,780




08 to 10.01.00


British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body Plenary Meeting, 
  Galway, Ireland*


Patricia Ferguson MSP + 4 MSPs + 2 Staff


£2,750




30.10 and 01.11.00


Conference of Presiding Officers of Legislative Regions 
  of Europe, Santiago de Compostela, Spain*


Presiding Officer + 2 Staff


£3,000




07 to 09.11.00


Delegation to Saschen-Anhalt Parliament, Germany


Patricia Ferguson MSP + 4 MSPs + 2 Staff


£5,000




21 and 22.11.00


Delegation to the Dail, Ireland*


Presiding Officer + 4 MSPs + 2 Staff


£1,100




07 to 09.12.00


Attendance at the AER Annual Conference, Seinajoki, Finland*


George Reid MSP + 1 Staff


£1,750




22 and 23.01.01


British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body Steering Committee 
  Meeting, Dublin, Ireland


Patricia Ferguson MSP + 1 Staff


£550




25 to 27.01.01


Visit to Hungarian Parliament and other engagements in 
  Budapest, Hungary*


Presiding Officer + 1 Staff


£2,000




29 and 30.01.01


Local Government Committee familiarisation visit to Dublin, 
  Ireland


Trish Godman MSP, Kenny Gibson MSP, Keith Harding MSP + 
  2 Staff


£2,000




25 to 28.02.01


British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body Plenary, Plenary 
  Meeting, Killarney, Ireland*


Patricia Ferguson MSP + 4 MSPs + 1 Staff


£2,400




26 and 27.02.01


European Committee visit to Brussels, Belgium


Committee Members + 3 Staff


£7,000




19 to 21.03.01


European Parliament Familiarisation visit to Brussels, 
  Belgium*


George Reid MSP + 14 MSPs + 4 Staff


£3,500




02 to 08.04.01


Tartan Day Celebration, Washington, USA*


Patricia Ferguson MSP + 4 MSPs + 2 staff


£40,409




02 to 04.05.01


Council of Europe CLRAE Plenary, France


Bruce Crawford MSP


£250




04 and 05.06.01


To speak at a Conference organised by Patronat Catala Pro 
  Europa, Catalonia, Spain


George Reid MSP


£20




03 to 05.07.00


Tynwald Opening Ceremony, Isle of Man*


George Reid MSP


£500




09 to 12.07.01


Conference on Regulatory Reform and Scrutiny of Legislation, 
  Australia


David Mundell MSP + I staff


£7,800




11 and 12.07.01


Reporters from Transport and Environment Committee visit 
  to Brussels, Belgium


Des McNulty MSP, Maureen Macmillan MSP + 1 staff


£1,500




11 to 15.08.01


National Conference of State Legislatures Annual Conference, 
  San Antonio, Texas, USA


Patricia Ferguson MSP + 2 staff


£10,500




29 and 30.08.01


Meeting of the Holyrood Progress Group, Barcelona, Spain


John Home Robertson MSP, Jamie Stone MSP + 2 staff


£4,500




06 to 08.09.01


To speak at forum organised by the British Council, Prague, 
  Czech Republic


George Reid MSP


Nil




07 to 14.09.01


47th CPA Annual Conference, Australia*


Richard Lochhead MSP, Cathy Jamieson MSP + 1 staff


£8,500




25 and 26.09.01


Petitions Committee Visit to Bundestag, Berlin, Germany


John McAllion MSP, John Farquhar Munro MSP, Dorothy Grace 
  Elder MSP, Phil Gallie MSP + 1 staff


£2,800




08 to 10.10.01


Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee Visit, Brussels, 
  Belgium


Elaine Thomson MSP, Annabel Goldie MSP, Duncan Hamilton 
  MSP + 1 staff


£1,500




09 to 12.10.01


Scotland Week, Brussels, Belgium


George Reid MSP, Hugh Henry MSP, Alex Fergusson MSP, Robin 
  Harper MSP, Annabel Goldie MSP + 5 staff


£5,000




14 and 15.10.01


BIIPB, Steering Committee Meeting, Ireland


Patricia Ferguson MSP


£500




15 to 19.10.01


13th Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar, Tasmania, Australia


Keith Raffan MSP


£3,000




18 and 19.10.01


CLRAE Meeting, Strasbourg, France


Bruce Crawford MSP


£50




29 and 30.10.01


Conference of Presidents of Regional Legislative Assemblies 
  of Europe, Madeira, Portugal*


Presiding Officer + 1 staff


£3,000




03 to 07.11.01


CPA Executive Committee Visit, Quebec City and Ottawa, 
  Canada*


Lord James Douglas-Hamilton MSP, Michael Russell MSP, Iain 
  Smith MSP, Karen Whitefield MSP + 1 staff


£10,000




03 to 06.11.01


Cross-Party Parliamentary Visit, Estonia*


George Reid MSP, Margaret Jamieson MSP, Donald Gorrie MSP, 
  Keith Harding MSP, Tricia Marwick MSP + 1 staff


£8,000




09 to 11.11.01


Education, Culture and Sport Committee inquiry, Denmark


Karen Gillon MSP and Irene McGugan MSP


£1,250




16 to 18.11.01


Visit to New York, USA which included St Andrew's Society 
  Dinner and Tartan Day preparation*


Presiding Officer + 1 staff


£5,000




09 to12.01.02


16th Conference of Commonwealth Speakers and Presiding 
  Officers, Kasane, Botswana*


Presiding Officer + 1 staff


£9,000




20 and 21.01.02


Meeting with the Parliaments of Catalonia and Flanders, 
  Barcelona, Spain*


Presiding Officer, Irene Oldfather MSP, Clerk/Chief Executive 
  + 3 staff


£5,500




05 to 07.02.02


Attendance at COR Plenary, Brussels, Belgium*


Irene Oldfather MSP, Irene McGugan MSP + I staff


£1,500




01 and 02.03.02


Governance seminar, Florence, Italy


Nora Radcliffe MSP


£800




04 to 06.03.02


European Committee visit to EU institutions, Brussels, 
  Belgium


All members of the European Committee + 5 staff


£4,400




24 to 26.03.02


BIIPB Plenary Meeting, Dublin, Ireland*


Murray Tosh MSP, David McLetchie MSP, Cathie Craigie MSP, 
  Iain Smith MSP, Shona Robison MSP +1 staff


£4,000




14 and 15.05.02


Governance seminar (AER), Madrid, Spain


John Home Robertson MSP + 1 staff


£800




04 to 10.04.02


Tartan Day Celebrations, New York, USA*


Presiding Officer, David McLetchie MSP, Roseanna Cunningham 
  MSP, Sylvia Jackson MSP, Margaret Smith MSP + 2 staff


£45,000




11 to 13.06.02


Transport and Environment Committee attendance at Aquaculture 
  Conference, Norway


Maureen Macmillan MSP + 1 staff


£3,000

Tartan Day

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer how much the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body spent on Tartan Day celebrations in the United States of America in each of the last two years.

Sir David Steel: Actual expenditure arising from a Deputy Presiding Officer, a cross party delegation, and one support officer, undertaking an agreed one week programme during Tartan Day 2001, was £40,409.

  The estimated expenditure arising from the Presiding Officer, a cross party delegation, and two support officers, undertaking an agreed one week programme, during Tartan Day 2002, is £45,000.